So Claudia and I have been talking about taking some X-country ski lessons so we could try skijoring with the huskies. well we skipped the lessons and just decided to drive up to Breckenridge and try it out on our own with JD (her hubby) and the dogs!!!! we rented our gear and paid the trail pass and drove up to the one trail that the dogs were aloud on. i think it was just after 11:30 or so that we got started. Claudia went out on her own to test it out and i just went for it with the dogs on the first try, hell i skied for like 12yrs how hard could it be..... yeah i found out real fast how different it was! my right glut and hamstring still hurt from the falls. but by the end of our 2hrs (seemed longer) we were sore and hot but almost getting the hang of it. we will try the lessons and no dogs next time. ok on to the fun part, pics and video!!

this was my first trip into the mountains this winter and was sad to see so little snow, it was reported later in the week that we are way below average for our snow pack this year and that means a dry summer


Claudia working on her balance


S&J were ready to go


a few old buildings.


i think thats JD and storm




Claudia and Ginger and JD


Storm was having fun


S&J waiting as we figure out where we are


Claudia is down!


Me at the end of the run.

and our videos

How fun! You won't ever find me braving it like that! Lol I can't wait to see the videos when we get back from vacay.

Those are awesome pics and videos, Jenn!
It was fun! But I would think we would've had a lot more fun if we actually knew how to x-country ski decent! - At least for me since I'm the NON-skier!

I fell on my a$$ starting at the gas station, so I had a bruise by the time I was done for the day!

X-Country ski lesson before the next skijoring adventure must be had by me....I can ski a little, but this was nothing like getting down a ski run on alpine skis!!

Fun, fun!

So, when can we take that lesson??
I wanna skijor again!

Looks like a lot of fun was had by all! Somehow, I have a feeling I'd be faceplanted in a tree if I tried that with D&D... lol

Claudia, i got boots at the REI garage sale for $30!!!!! i am all set with boots, skis and polls! lets do that lesson! i think we would all be better after learning some basic stuff. still wondering if ken even wants to try after seeing the videos

let me know when you wanna do a lesson - do you want a private with just us? or the regular group lesson?

Great pics and videos! Looks like you guys had fun. They all run at such a nice pace! Not to fast and not too slow, perfect for nice recreational skijoring!
I got to skijor for the first time this year today, but it wasn't that great because I forgot to bring my ski boots, so I had to borrow some really old skis and boots from a friend. They were not the right size so I feel like I wasn't able to help the dogs at all. In addition to that, both the girls and I are out of shape! I can't believe we were able to actually race and finish just last year! They ran at a full out sprint for the first mile, but then got distracted and kept changing the pace, probably because pulling me was like pulling dead weight at that point! We usually push for continuous sprint, but after watching your videos, I think I may focus on training them for a slower speed since I no longer race. Trail was bad too, not much snow at all. I was so hopful there would be a ton of snow, but its not much better than Illinois right now.
I would definitly reccomend doing some lessons without the dogs. It will really help with your balance and speed. If you want to go faster, or farther distances, work on skate sking too. Skate sking really helps out the dogs because you are pusing yourself forward faster than traditional x-country, allowing the dogs to pull a little less weight.

It does look like fun. I can just see me face planting and the dogs dragging me along for a mile or two. I don't think I'm brave enough. lol

Ahh I'm so jealous! Over here in WI we got low snow amounts to well at least compared to last year. And I bought skis right after our first snow here and tried it out but really wasnt enuff snow and have been waiting for more to fall but its not happening. Just snows about an inch or so. Melts, green grass, then snows a inch again, and melts, etc.... lol. Looks like a really fun time and a really nice place to go.

Awesome! That looks like so much fun. Not sure if I would dare try it, I would probably just keep falling over!

Ghost wrote:

I would probably just keep falling over!

That was us at the start but then we got the hang of it. I think the dogs could tell we were not sure! S&J were walking on the up hill but the min it flattened out or went down hill it was full speed ahead.

Looks like fun but makes me kind of re-think skatejoring. Concrete, harder than snow, wheels faster than skis, parked cars, curbs, stray cats......hmmmmm. Maybe I'll stick to Canicross and stay out of the hospital.

jbealer wrote:

That was us at the start but then we got the hang of it. I think the dogs could tell we were not sure! S&J were walking on the up hill but the min it flattened out or went down hill it was full speed ahead.

I had Storm with me, and we've only had him since April 2010, so he's just starting out with all this adventure, but other than the occasional sniff off the side of the trail, he seems to know his commands, know to stay on trail, know when to pull, when to walk and when to stop without me saying anything. The faster I went, the faster he went but as soon as I said 'whoa', and I slowed down, he'd immediately slow down too. When I said 'hike' he started to pull a little, but not too hard. I'm so proud of my boy!

I think they just kinda know what to do!

So im just going back to this thread to add to it, our winter sucked last yr and we never got back out, i was dead set on getting back out this yr!!!
over my winter break i found a deal for a 1hr X-country ski lesson and bought it. i took the pups up to the mountain on the day after Christmas, left them in the car while i took my lesson and then we drove up to Breck where i could ski with the dogs. i did not take any pictures really but i did do some video. it went much better this time around and i only fell a few times. i went to put on S&J's Xbacks only to find they did not fit any more :(so i used the ruffwear harness from their packs and they worked fine.
ok on to some video.
first things first, here is Jack, stuck in traffic on our way up there!!!







we practice our commands on our daily walks and it really helps keep it fresh for them

I just sent the video of Jack talking in the car stuck in traffic to everyone I know. So good.

That video in the traffic - I know it sucks, buddeeeyy..

For anyone starting out or just wanting to brush up on there cross-country ski skills I highly recommend the following book.  It's a great read with tons of information and well explained both in the writing and the photographs.  It's available at REI.

How is that trail in Breck? Is it pretty flat all the way, or does it have ups and downs? I think I can do flat trail with Polar on a snowboard, but if it has any ups and downs, then I won't be able to unless I learn how to XC ski...

you need skis, i wanted to do the loop but somehow ended up going UP the whole way until we looped back down and got to really "ski". i did not take the same trail i thought we took the first time we went out.

check out coney flats, you should be able to board that if not to many people around, it has small ups that just taking the back foot out and pushing would not be so bad.

It's a little late in the year to start skijoring, but for next year I highly recommend this book.
It's available on Amazon.